On Monday, three detained Americans in North Korea seek help from the United States government to negotiate their freedom and help them to return back home.
North Korea provided foreign media access on Monday to three detained Americans who were watched by the officials as they spoke when they called Washington to send eminent representative to negotiate for their freedom.
The three detained Americans in North Korea said that they have been able to contact and reach their respective families. They were able to speak in exceptional interviews with the US media that were set up by the North Korean government and possibly will motion an attempt by Pyongyang to reopen a long-stalled channel of communication.
The three American detainees spoke to the Associated Press and CNN under securely controlled conditions. Kenneth Bae who is serving a 15-year sentence said that his health has deteriorated at the labor camp where he works eight hours per day while the two, Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller, said that they were awaiting trial in the isolated country. They also said that they do not know what punishment they will face or what the specific charges against them are.
The US government responded to the interviews and admonished the North Korean authorities to release the three detained Americans who shared that they were being treated humanely but seek the US help to get more actively involved in helping their situations' resolution.
As the US government responded to the pleas of the detained men, the White House said that they were doing everything they could to secure the release of the men but did not comment if the men's petition might change the government's approach.
The North Korean interviews suggests for a reopening of the long-hindered channel of communication with the US government. However, the Obama administration is seemingly treading carefully and has insisted that the three detained Americans' release are with no strings attached and says the other issues like the North Korea's disputed nuclear program, remain separate.
In the recent years, the US officials have made clear that they don't want to return on a cycle in which North Korea spurs crises that are determined only with transactional agreements.
The Monday interview broadcasts were under a securely controlled situation and both the CNN and the Associated Press, reporting the interviews were watched by the North Korean officials. The Associated Press reported that the detainees appeared to speak at liberty but vigilantly.
As the negotiations between the US and North Korean governments continues, the three American detainees who seek the US help are hopeful for their much-awaited freedom and to be able to see another light of the day in their home country.
